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Pete C.[_3_] Pete C.[_3_] is offline
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Default How to scrub diesel exhaust


wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jun 2014 16:15:52 -0500, Ignoramus27780
wrote:

On 2014-06-18, Pete C. wrote:

Bob La Londe wrote:

"Ignoramus27780" wrote in message
...
I bought a forklift today. It is a 30,000 lbs forklift with a diesel
engine.

To make it more palatable indoors, I would like to find some way to
scrub/purify exhaust gases. Can I add something, like a catalytic
converter, DEF box, afterburner, or some such?

Its been a long time since all the warehouses that used to use propane
indoors (much cleaner than diesel) went all electric. Even if you modernize
it, you are still putting out way to much in emissions to be running it
indoors. I think it was in the late 70s or early 80s that lots of propane
forklifts hit the market because all those outfits got told they couldn't
use them indoors anymore.



Using a diesel forklift indoors all day in a warehouse is a bit
different than a one-off use to move some big stuff out to the semi.


exactly.

Realistically the only things I can think of are to bring along a big
vent fan to bring fresh air in, and potentially use an exhaust rated
hose to carry the exhaust out (like garages use in the winter). Having a
hose umbilical from the forklift might seem a bit hinky, but you aren't
going to be moving a ~30,000# load fast at all so one person managing
the hose would be reasonable.

One last thought would be to do an experiment piping the forklift
exhaust to the bottom of a 55gal drum half full of water. That should
trap a lot of the soot at least, and the water can be changed regularly.
I don't know if it's enough to help, but certainly a forklift that large
has room for such a drum on the back if it did work. Easy enough to
test.


Piping exhaust through water, maybe while breaking up the floor of air
to make smaller bubbles, seems like a good idea to try.

However, the stinkiest part of the exhaust is probably nox and CO.

i
i

I don't know about NOX but CO is odorless. Which is one of the reasons
it kills people. You cannot smell it and since it binds to hemoglobin
better than oxygen it slowly builds up in your blood and prevents
hemoglobin from attaching to oxygen. Since it is also a poison it
suffocates you as well as poisons you. And even if you get pure oxygen
after exposure to much CO it may not save your life because the CO
will be bound to the hemoglobin and the extra oxygen in your lungs
can't attach to anything that will do you any good. I think the
stinkiest part of the exhaust may well be in the sooty emissions. I
have noticed that when exposed to sooty diesel exhaust it stinks the
most.
Eric


I have a '70s diesel tractor and an '09 diesel truck (with DPF), and the
'09 truck lacks the soot and most of the traditional diesel smell,
though it's exhaust is not odor free. Given that there should be big
doors open not too far away when operating the forklift indoors to say
remove big printing presses there will probably be enough ventilation to
not be a big safety issue. The drum of water might well be enough to
make everyone happier. 100' of exhaust umbilical may not be unreasonable
either.